Pop legend Ian Dury, who taught art in Kent before finding musical fame, has been commemorated with a blue plaque.
The sign is among 15 installed in Canterbury as part of a scheme run by English Heritage to encourage communities to learn more about the famous people and events that have shaped local histories.
Dury studied art and was mentored by Peter Blake before taking a teaching post at the Canterbury School of Art which was originally located in St Peter’s Street, where his plaque is displayed.
He had contracted polio when he was just seven, leading to his determined character and inspiring his witty and dexterous lyric writing, producing hits like Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick and Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll, with his band, the Blockheads.
Other plaques have been erected across the city and in the surrounding area in the scheme, administered locally through the Canterbury Society, which had invited suggestions for people and places who should be recognised for their contributions.
They include Stephen and Catherine Williamson, who gave the Westgate Gardens and Tower House to the city in 1936, Sarah Baker, who was a theatre impresario in the late 18th century, Michael Powell, who directed the much-loved film, A Canterbury Tale, and Aphra Behn, who lived in Harbledown and is considered to be England’s first professional woman’s author and also spied for King Charles II.
Events are commemorated too, with plaques at Canterbury West station for the first railway season ticket to be issued in the world and at Ye Olde Beverlie pub, where the game of bat and trap - a pre-cursor to cricket - was invented.
The launch of a new blue plaque trail in the city was held at Cathedral Lodge recently, attended by the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress with guests welcomed by Ptolemy Dean, who is president of the Canterbury Society.
They were then invited to follow the trail around the city, ending with lunch and a game of bat and trap at Ye Olde Beverlie.
The other celebrated personalities and locations are city surveyor John Hall, archaeologist Audrey Williams, teacher Elizabeth Elstob, author John Lyly, military man and freemason Lord Cornwallis, literary critic Walter Pater, the Coal Yard Gate and the Weybridge Cottage.
Canterbury Society chairman Hilary Brian said: “Social media lit up as soon as the plaques were in place and we are delighted that they have been so well received.”
The full list and descriptions of the new blue plaques and a trail map are available from the Canterbury Visitor Centre in the Beaney Museum and can also be downloaded from the Canterbury Society website.
